NBC
Believes Expletives, “MILF” and Men Groping Women are
Appropriate for Families

LOS ANGELES (April 17, 2008) – Only a week
after applauding NBC’s public commitment to family-quality
programming during the “Family Hour,” the Parents Television
Council™ condemned NBC for its abrupt about-face, as
evidenced by a number of recent graphic scenes during Family
Hour broadcasts. The PTC challenged NBC to defend its
recent commitment to the Family Hour after it aired episodes
of “30 Rock,” which contained bleeped expletives and women
removing their bikini tops, and “My Name is Earl,” which
featured three scenes depicting a man groping women’s
breasts. Both shows aired during the traditional Family
Hour, which is between 8 pm – 9 pm ET/PT, which NBC recently
announced it would reserve for families. The “30 Rock”
episode aired on April 10, 2008, and the “My Name is Earl”
episode aired on April 3, 2008.

The New York Times
described the “30 Rock” content by saying, “The
general content of the ‘30 Rock’ episode, however, appears
to work against NBC’s positioning of the show in its family
hour, the 8 to 9 p.m. block of programming that Mr.
Silverman said would consist of shows a family could watch
together.”

According to PTC research, the episode of “30 Rock” showed
mothers on “MILF” Island competing for the attention of 8th
grade boys. (The term “MILF” is an acronym for “Mothers I’d
Like to F***.”) When the mothers are eliminated from the
competition, they must remove their bikini tops and throw
them in a fire. The young boys are shown watching the women
dance provocatively.

PTC President Tim Winter responded, “This is
NBC’s new standard for family programming? Using terms like
‘MILF’ and showing men groping women’s breasts? I guess NBC
thinks that if a standard is good, a double-standard must be
twice as good.”

“If NBC is going to commit to the Family
Hour, then it must truly commit to airing content that the
entire family can watch without fear of inappropriate or
indecent content. These scenes were purely gratuitous,
intended to titillate and crossed the line of decency. NBC
seems out of touch with what the term ‘Family Hour’ means if
the network believes that it can air bleeped expletives and
sexual images during the 8 pm hour when millions of children
are in the viewing audience. NBC’s Family Hour pledge is
purely hypocritical.”

Mr. Winter recently wrote to NBC
Entertainment’s Co-Chairman, Ben Silverman, to express his
gratitude over NBC’s recent commitment to the Family Hour.
But in his letter he asked Mr. Silverman and NBC to make
sure the Family Hour content is truly appropriate for
families. “I understand that ‘family’ is a broad category
and it includes families with small children, families with
older children, and even families without children. But all
too often material is called ‘Family Programming’ when in
fact it is nothing of the sort. ‘Ugly Betty’ comes to mind.
The PTC has also recorded scenes from that program which
implied oral sex, reference to genital size, pornography,
strippers, anal sex, threesomes, kinky and fetishistic
behavior, statutory rape, S&M and partial nudity. Foul
language in ‘Ugly Betty’ frequently includes words like
‘suck’, ‘bitch’, ‘ass,’ ‘screw’ and ‘damn’. This is hardly
‘family’ quality material,” Mr. Winter said in his letter.

“We were the first to praise NBC for
returning to the Family Hour, but we must now be the first
to condemn their apparent abandonment of the previous week’s
so-called commitment. We repeat our request to NBC: please
make the Family Hour truly family-friendly. Responsible
television programming is good business. NBC could easily
return to its roots with successful shows that appeal to the
whole family, such as ‘The Cosby Show.’ Committing to
families must be more than empty talk. We expect NBC to
make good on its pledge to keep the Family Hour intact and
fill it with programming that even children can watch,”
Winter concluded.

To speak with a representative
from the Parents Television Council, please contact Kelly Oliver
(ext. 140) or Megan Franko (ext. 148) at (703) 683-5004.

The Parents Television Council™ (www.parentstv.org®)
is a non-partisan education organization advocating responsible entertainment.
It was founded in 1995 to ensure that children are not constantly assaulted by sex, violence
and profanity on television and in other media. This national
grassroots organization has more than 1.3 million members across the
United States, and works with television producers, broadcasters,
networks and sponsors in an effort to stem the flow of harmful and
negative messages targeted to children. The PTC also works with
elected and appointed government officials to enforce broadcast
decency standards. Most importantly, the PTC produces critical
research and publications documenting the dramatic increase in sex,
violence and profanity in entertainment. This information is
provided free of charge so parents can make informed viewing choices
for their own families.

Parents Television Council,
www.parentstv.org, PTC,
Clean Up TV Now, Because our children are watching, The
nation's most influential advocacy organization, Protecting
children against sex, violence and profanity in
entertainment, Parents Television Council Seal of Approval,
and Family Guide to Prime Time Television
are trademarks of the Parents Television Council.